10 Thoughts: WWE Smackdown 7.12.13 (Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, AJ Lee)

Reviews, TV Shows

1. Christian’s return hasn’t been what fans of Christian may of wanted, but the guy has been on TV every week and will continue to do so. While I don’t see him making a huge impact over the next year or so, but he will definitely help out guys in the back fine tune their skills and will make them look great in front of thousands of the WWE Universe every night.

2. The way Christian and Daniel Bryan work together you would think they worked with each other every night in VFW’s somewhere. These two men are the definition of working hard in the ring. Bryan is so over right now he didn’t need to win Raw’s Money in the Bank Match like Randy Orton did. His push won’t be effected at all, as we all saw John Cena select Bryan to face him for the WWE Title at SummerSlam.

3. The Shield cooling off a bit isn’t a good thing, the WWE has a tendency to not book their talent correctly and they have been nothing short of flawless so far with these three men. The problem the WWE is running into is they have plenty in mind for Dean Ambrose, but the other two guys are almost dead in the water with those tag team titles around their waists. Seth Rollins and Jey Uso put on a hell of a show, so there really shouldn’t be any doubt Rollins could carry himself in singles competition. Will Roman Reigns be the odd man out this time next year?

4. Does the WWE want the truth on why no one gave one single crap about the Chris Jericho/Ryback feud? It’s simple, because the two guys were hardly around each other. Besides Jericho calling Ryback, ‘cryback’ the two of them only saw each other in catering. Jericho is the a great opponent for Curtis Axel, especially since he has kind of lost some steam; but who wouldn’t make a great opponent for Y2J?

5. This whole injury angle with Ryback is just ridiculous. He doesn’t play the part convincing enough and it the whole thing just comes off corny. You would think The Miz would of picked up the win over the ‘injured’ Ryback heading into Money in the Bank, but at this point in his career The Miz is such a mark he is content to just be employed by the WWE.

6. AJ Lee is so over the WWE can have a Divas Title Match contract signing on television. AJ has single handedly gotten fans to care about the Divas Division despite the constant reminder of ‘Total Divas’ airing soon on the E Network. Lee has found herself these past six months, and could easily land a job in Hollywood if she doesn’t want to wrestle anymore.

7. I really don’t like Fandango going back to this ‘I refuse to fight’ attitude. How this character is really going to get over is his in ring work. Many may not find a ballroom dancer a good wrestling gimmick, but Fandango’s ability to put on a good show in between the ropes has helped his fans stay dancing. Wade Barrett was left in the ring, ironically, with nothing to do. That just about sums up his career since Nexus.

8. Not only did I love the WWE mocking a serious angle for TNA by having Dolph Ziggler dress as Sin Cara and ruin a match, but they took it one step further. Teddy Long didn’t discipline Ziggler and Sin Cara did the best work a Lucha Libre can do in a segment that involves actually talking.

9. Not only were we all forced to witness another clash of Randy Orton and Sheamus, but we also had the privilege on witnessing a cluster of Smackdown Superstars running around trying to climb a ladder just days before they all put their bodies on the line. This final segment just felt forced, and should of either happened completely different or just not of happen at all.

10. Last month on the Smackdown episode before Payback the WWE did a great job of selling the mid card matches, this time around it wasn’t necessary because Money in the Bank has already sold it self every year now. Instead we got a night full of good wrestling, and AJ Lee talking, which is always a good thing. Until next week guys, leave a comment, tell a friend and follow me on Twitter @CamDougharty and let’s talk rasslin!